Kirk Hammett: Metallica Plan to ‘Buckle Down’ and Create New Album in September

We've got a big update on Metallica's next album. In a new interview, guitarist Kirk Hammett shared that this September, the thrash legends will "buckle down" and begin cranking out a brand new record.

Metallica have been prepping for the follow-up to 2008's 'Death Magnetic' for some time, composing a staggering amount of riffs to build a foundation for the album. Drummer Lars Ulrich recently stated that Metallica are in the "fourth inning" of the new record's process, which kept the buzz of excitement alive, but now, Hammett has offered some very specific plans.

While speaking with Guitar World, Hammett went in-depth about Metallica's current plans. "We totally want to make an album," Hammett says. "But we have all these other touring commitments, and we have families now. It's gonna be summertime soon, and it's hard to work because the kids are out of school."

"But we have a backlog of riffs in the riff bank," the shredder continues. "Now it's about picking riffs out, putting them together and moving along. Later, we'll revisit it all and see where it goes. We've all said to each other that September is gonna be the time when we buckle down. I know I told everyone it was gonna be last January … but that's just the way it goes!" [Laughs]

Interestingly enough, Hammett also shares that the track 'Lord of Summer,' which was recently released as a rough demo recording, will likely experience a guitar overhaul.

"Because of everything we had going on, I didn't have time to work out the guitar solo in 'Lords Of Summer'," Hammett reveals. "The solo that's on the demo track was all we had time to do. I barely knew what I was gonna do and didn't have time to really formulate anything. We told everyone that the song was a demo version … and the solo is really a demo version. [Laughs] If you compare the solo in the demo version to what I've been playing live at those South American shows, it's a lot better and more refined now."